


The Carving of Whalebone and Hearts

by SokkaWithHisHairDown



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bad Parenting, Canon Compliant, M/M, Other, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Post-Canon, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Protective Zuko (Avatar), and they were fiances, oh my god they were fiances, ozai finds out zuko is engaged to sokka, zuko and sokka are in love oops
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:07:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26002378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SokkaWithHisHairDown/pseuds/SokkaWithHisHairDown
Summary: “So, you got married and didn’t invite me to the wedding? And to water tribe savage, no less.”Zuko, biting back retaliation to the slur, smoothed his finger over the ridges of the carvings in his betrothal necklace, eyes going back to his father. “We’re engaged.”Arguing always was Ozai’s forte. Zuko supposed that was where he got the gene from.He didn’t want to argue any more.OrZuko goes to visit his father. Ozai notices his betrothal necklace. Things don't go as Zuko had planned them.
Relationships: Ozai & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 89
Kudos: 1257





	1. Unfortunate Observations

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! I posted this to my tumblr (@sokka-with-his-hair-down) and someone was like "You should put this on Ao3" and I was like "Wait that's a good idea" so here I am. Enjoy :)

When Ozai found out, he wasn’t happy

Zuko hadn’t intended for him to know. That wasn’t the purpose of his visit—his visits were either to remind his father that he couldn’t keep harassing the guards forever or to see if he had a sudden change of heart and suddenly wasn’t a genocidal maniac anymore.

(Neither of those things ever came to pass.)

It was late when the visit occurred. Zuko had changed from his formal daily robes to a slightly more casual evening attire and stole away to the prison. The sunset as he approached the compound was beautiful, but he couldn’t bring himself to appreciate it. These visits were always a little anxiety-inducing, even after all these years.

Cold stone walls. Shoes clicking on concrete. The smell of wet metal and ash.

His father’s cell was guarded, as always, but the men immediately stepped aside for their monarch. They knew the protocol by now—Zuko came to visit more often than he thought he ever would.

Ozai, slumped against the wall with his head hanging down and his hair obscuring his face, looked dead. The only indication that he wasn’t was a little huff of indignance at his son’s presence.

“Dropping by for another chat, are we?”

“Hello, father.”

The air was stale and the tension palpable, but Zuko’s stance was at ease. He was safe here. Very safe, in fact. He’d grown to be more confident—more sure of himself.

But.

Being around his father had a certain effect on him. It made him feel like a child. Which he was not, for sure. It had been six years since he was that hot-headed, angry boy, and he liked to think that he’d grown past his adolescent angst.

But he still felt it bubble up when he came here.

He pushed it down.

Ozai’s rough voice echoed tauntingly throughout the room. “Have you come to give me another lecture?”

Zuko furrowed his brow. “I’m just here to check on you.”

“So nice of my son to check on his old man, isn’t it?” Zuko could see Ozai’s toothy half-smile from beneath the thin curtain of his ratty hair. “Why doesn’t Azula visit more, I wonder?”

“You know why,” Zuko stated flatly. His father was trying to be funny. Zuko wasn’t amused.

“So what is it, then? Surely you didn’t come for tea and a talk.”

Zuko sighed, tiredly, mostly. “I’m just here to let you know that things are well, and that you don’t need to make your ridiculous , evil-sounding jokes every time I come here.”

Ozai looked up fully, eyes evidently tired but spiteful smile still there. “Evil? I’m just trying to have some fun. It gets  _ so _ boring in here.”

Zuko almost responded, but he decided against it. He wasn’t going to argue.

“Since everything seems to be in order, I guess I’ll just leave.”

“Your feelings were always so easily hurt. Don’t tell me you’re even more fragile now than before-”

“I think that’s  _ enough _ .”

There it was. The fire in Zuko’s voice. The anger his father raised within him. He’d involuntarily taken a step closer to Ozai, now able to see him fully in his sad (but well-deserved) state.

He expected his father to laugh at him, at the irony of his little explosion, but Ozai instead looked surprised.

His eyes weren’t on Zuko’s face. They were lower than that, on his neck, and Zuko brought his hand up subconsciously to feel the subject of his father’s gaze.

“So, you got married and didn’t invite me to the wedding? And to water tribe savage, no less.”

Zuko, biting back retaliation to the slur, smoothed his finger over the ridges of the carvings in his betrothal necklace, eyes going back to his father. “We’re engaged.”

“Hm,” Ozai hummed. “Is it that pesky waterbender girl?”

“Katara isn’t a pest.”

“So it is her, then. Poor choice.”

“It isn’t her.”

Ozai seemed intrigued. His murky, yellow eyes gleamed in the darkness. “No?”

“No.”

“Then who?”

The Fire Lord was growing frustrated. But he wasn’t just going to leave—that’d only give his father satisfaction, and he wouldn’t grant him that. He’d leave on his own terms.

“Since when do you care about my life? Or me, for that matter?”

“Zuko, you think too lowly of me,” Ozai said in that smooth way that Zuko hated. “You’re my son. Of course I’d care if you got engaged.”

“I may be your son, but I scarcely think of you as my father.”

“Who. Is. It.”

Arguing always was Ozai’s forte. Zuko supposed that was where he got the gene from.

He didn’t want to argue any more.

“Katara’s brother, the chieftain’s son.”

Ozai’s eyes widened, then narrowed, and suddenly they looked less deceptively kind and more venomous. “I see.”

“I assume you don’t approve.”

“Acute observation.”

Zuko lifted his chin proudly. “I don’t care.”

Ozai chuckled, but his lips barely managed the ghost of a sarcastic smile. “Of course not... but I just didn’t take you for the type.”

“The  _ type? _ ”

“I thought you’d end up with Lady Mai.”

_ Breathe _ . “Mai is a good friend,” Zuko stated, “but she wasn’t for me.”

“But at least she’s a  _ woman _ .”

Zuko held back the urge to shout again. It had been clawing its way up his throat, and he couldn’t let it out, for the sake of his dignity.

“I knew you would be angry,” Zuko said truthfully, evenly, not daring let his voice slip even a hair onto the emotional side. “But I love him. We’re getting married at the end of the month.”

Ozai scowled. “And you wondered why you were always the disappointment.”

_ Calm. Stay calm. _

“He’s a good man. And we’re happy. Not that any of that  _ actually _ matters to you, despite what you’d have me believe.”

Ozai’s face went darker, angrier, and he spoke lowly, ominously, like he was going to erupt at the drop of a hat.

“I should have expected this. That you’d end up marrying the scum of the earth. A  _ tribesman _ . Whatever happened to you being honorable, Zuko?”

_ Don’t shout. Don’t get angry. Don’t— _

Damn it.

Forget the don’ts.

“You will  _ not _ talk about him that way!” Zuko took another step toward the bars. “Do you understand me?”

Ozai actually looked surprised this time, but only a bit. In only a second, he slipped back into his devious, smug expression and leaned further back against the wall. “Very well,  _ your majesty. _ ”

Zuko knew the title was mockery, but he ignored it. Instead, he just nodded, turned, and left.

No goodbyes. He knew he’d be back.


	2. Oh. You.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m here to remind you that you have no authority. And that you don’t know the first thing about honor, very clearly. And that if you ever insult my people or Zuko’s choice in partners again, you’re gonna wish Aang had ended it that day.”

“He  _ what?” _

Zuko fiddled a little bit with his fingers. “He… knows we’re engaged.”

Sokka was pacing around their bedroom, and Zuko knew he wasn’t mad at him, because Zuko went to see his dad from time to time, and Sokka knew this. But he  _ was _ frustrated. And definitely angry at Ozai.

“Baby,” Sokka said, gently grabbing Zuko’s wrists and holding them to his chest, “what did he say to you?”

Zuko sighed and pursed his lips, looking down guiltily.

“Nothing, really-”

“It’s not nothing, Zuko—!” Sokka caught himself yelling and took a moment to bring his voice down. This wasn’t the time to yell. “It’s not nothing. I know how your father is… so tell me. Please?”

Though reluctant, Zuko seemed to know that Sokka wouldn’t give up on this matter. After all, it was  _ Ozai _ , the literal worst person currently alive, and he’d almost definitely said something awful to Zuko, Sokka’s fiancé, his one and only-

“Okay.”

Sokka refocused his eyes on Zuko’s. The Fire Lord looked dismayed at whatever he was about to say, but he wasn’t panicking, which was good.

Sokka nodded. “Okay.”

Before Zuko could start, Sokka led him to sit on the edge of the bed with him.

“It was just him trying to provoke me. You know that, right?” Zuko's expression was earnest and Sokka knew his words were true, but he was still so  _ angry _ .

“I know. Just tell me what he said.”

Zuko shifted. “He said things about you. He insulted your heritage and your tribe, and I shouted at him for it. Because he doesn’t know what in Agni’s name he’s  _ talking _ about, babe. He called you names and I lost my cool.”

Sokka almost chuckled at the use of the term “babe” thrown in there, but he refrained from it. Just this once.

“I don’t care what he said about me. What did he say about  _ you? _ ”

A slight shake in Zuko’s exhale made Sokka’s heart break a little. “Not much. Just his usual spiel he’s always thrown at me. I’m a disappointment, I’m dishonorable, blah blah blah.”

Sokka huffed in anger. “That pathetic sad sack of a person should  _ never- _ ”

“Sokka, it’s okay. It’s fine. He can’t do anything about it, anyway. I just… need to ignore him. For a while. At least until we’re married.”

Sokka felt himself soften at the prospect of that, being married, being married to Zuko, specifically, but he still couldn’t push away the fury he was experiencing within.

“Okay,” was all Sokka said.

Zuko smiled and looked down at Sokka’s neck, then reached up to stroke a thumb over the little carving he’d made that hung at the base of Sokka’s throat. (And forever would.)

“Okay.”

***************

It really wasn’t okay, but that wasn’t for Zuko to worry about. He should be relaxed, focused on his duty as Fire Lord, be excited about getting married in a couple of weeks. 

Ozai was Sokka’s to worry about right now.

Sokka suspected that, sooner or later, Zuko would find out he went to visit his father. But with how he was feeling right now, it didn’t matter.

If Sokka could firebend, he was positive that his blood wouldn’t just be boiling metaphorically. What a twisted world view Ozai had… it almost saddened Sokka.

Almost.

Sokka made his way down the long corridor leading to Ozai’s cell. Two guards stood watch. Sokka halted and stood before them, bowing his head briefly.

“Who are you, and what is your business today?”

A standard question. Sokka understood.

“I am Ambassador Sokka, here to see my fiancé’s father.”

A look of understanding crossed the guards’ faces.

“Of course. Come right through.”

Sokka offered them a polite smile, but it disappeared the moment he stepped into the steel room.

It smelled awful, to put it simply, and something about it brought back memories of his time at the Boiling Rock. Maybe it was the atmosphere, or the stench, or just his nerves, but something about it was deeply unsettling.

And, of course, someone.

In the cell was Ozai, leaning against the wall, peering dangerously at Sokka like a wild animal.

Approaching the cell, Sokka made definite eye contact and didn’t break it for a second. Ozai was powerless, of course, but he was still Ozai, and that was enough to make Sokka feel threatened.

He hadn’t seen him since the war ended. Seeing him like  _ this _ felt strange.

“And who are you, exactly?”

The man’s ragged voice came suddenly and eerily.

Sokka stood tall. “We’ve met. Take a guess.”

Ozai peered at Sokka for a long moment, then scowled even deeper. “You’re that hooligan engaged to my son, aren’t you?”

Sokka was reminded of the weight of the necklace on his clavicle. “Yup.”

“I should’ve been able to tell right away,” Ozai mumbled rather loudly, “just the sight of you is enough to unsettle any sane person.”

“Woah there, buddy. A little below the belt, don’t you think?”

“You disgrace the Fire Nation, you dishonor our people. You’re a-”

“Aaand, I’m gonna stop you right there.” Sokka cut him off. “I’m here to remind you that you have no authority. And that you don’t know the first thing about  _ honor _ , very clearly. And that if you ever insult my people or Zuko’s choice in partners again, you’re gonna  _ wish _ Aang had ended it that day.”

“How  _ dare _ you interrupt me!” Ozai shouted, his eyes glinting with something that Sokka had often seen in Azula. Unchecked, raw helplessness turned into madness or mania or some mix of the two. Animalistic, one might describe it. “Just because my idiot son lets you push him around does  _ not _ mean that you can do the same to me!”

“I think I can do whatever I want,” Sokka didn’t shout, but his voice was still startlingly loud, rivaling Ozai’s volume. “Besides, Zuko actually has my respect, unlike… some people.”

“You’ve been blindsighted.”

“Actually,” Sokka snapped, “I can see everything perfectly clearly. Zuko and I are engaged, you’re in prison, and there’s nothing you can do to stop us from getting married. So again, I’m telling you, you’re on thin ice.”

Ozai made a face that resembled a tiger-snake’s snarl. “You disgust me—your family must be ashamed. I suppose you and my son deserve each other, at least in  _ that _ sense.”

Sokka shook his head and stood up straight. “I’ll be sure not to save you a seat at the wedding, Ozai.”

An angry shout ripped out from Ozai’s throat, but Sokka didn’t even listen to his words. He’d let his thoughts out. He was done.

***************

“I’m sorry in advance.”

Sokka pulled his leather hair tie out as he said it, placing it on the night and and walking toward the desk, where Zuko sat with a pen and papers.

“What for?”

“For a thing. That I did.”

Zuko lowered his pen and glanced up at his fiancé for a long moment before speaking. “Sokka, is there something you’d like to share with me?”

“I may or may not have gone to see your father in prison.”

Zuko went very still.

Sokka worried for a moment that he’d just made a gargantuan mistake, and that Zuko was about to shout and fuss and panic. Instead, he said:

“Oh.”

Huh.

“Oh?”

“I… why did you do that?”

Sokka put an arm on the desk and leaned into it. “To put your father in his place. Spirits know he needed it.”

Zuko’s face was inexplicably soft. Why was he reacting like  _ this?  _ “That’s… good, I think. What did he say?”

“About what you’d expect.”

Zuko chuckled. Sokka joined.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Sokka lifted his head and looked Zuko in the eye. “I thought you’d be mad at me.”

“I thought I’d be mad, too.”

“So why aren’t you?”

Zuko sighed and shrugged, a tired look on his face. “You can handle yourself. I know that.” He stood up and a smile crept onto his lips. “Besides, I can’t get angry at the guy I’m marrying.”

Sokka gasped. “How  _ dare _ you call me corny when you say shit like  _ that! _ ”

Zuko grinned, stood up, and pushed Sokka down onto the bed that was across from the desk before brushing off his clothes and standing tall. “It’s late. You should sleep.”

“You mean  _ we _ should sleep.”

“I have work to do,” Zuko stated, gesturing to the papers scattered on his bedroom desk.

“Zukooooo!  _ Pleeeease? _ ” Sokka did his very best impression of an animal begging for attention.

“Stop that.”

Sokka didn’t stop.

With an aggravated groan but a smile still present, Zuko resigned. “Fine, I’ll go to sleep.”

“Yay!” Sokka cheered like a child would upon getting a new toy. “A momentous occasion! We should throw a banquet, and get the musicians to perform-”

“If you don’t stop right now,” Zuko threatened, “I’m not coming to bed.” (Sokka didn’t believe him. He was already slipping under the covers.)

Sokka, elation not stifled, scooted up to him and offered the biggest grin he had at the ceiling. “You’re gonna  _ love _ being married to me.”

“Shut  _ up _ .”

Sokka frowned a little, but when he looked over, Zuko was smiling.

Yeah. Fuck Ozai.

Sokka smiled, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's that! This was really just a short drabble, but I hope you enjoyed. Feel free to comment your thoughts, I'd love to read them.


End file.
